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Bioenergy: Presentations

How to improve the leaked #EUbioenergy proposals explains the problems with using biomass for renewable energy and how the European Commission should change its proposal for new bioenergy policy to make sure bioenergy works for people and the planet.

This seminar held in May 2016 brought key scientists together with environmental, development and human rights NGOs to understand the Paris Agreement’s implications for forests and land use. A final report of the meeting gives an overview of discussions and presentations given.

By 2020, bioenergy will account for more than 10 per cent of total energy consumption in the EU. Scandinavian forests will be a significant source of biomass for energy, but intensified harvesting could substantially harm biodiversity and impact on the climate.

On 30 January, Satu Hassi MEP (Greens/EFA), EEB, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth and FERN organised an event in the European Parliament on sustainability of Scandinavian biomass.

Bioenergy will account for over 10 per cent of total energy consumption in the EU by 2020.

On 29 March, Linda McAvan MEP (S&D), Fiona Hall MEP (ALDE), Bas Eickhout MEP (Greens/EFA), BirdLife, FERN and the European Environmental Bureau organised an event in the European Parliament which discussed sustainability issues linked to biomass for energy and the impact on the climate, for 2020 and beyond.

“Measures are needed to ensure use of forest products is not guided by unregulated demand, but by what forests can sustainably supply,” this was one of the conclusions of the "Biomass and Resource Efficiency" event attended by more than 70 people at the European Parliament. It was organised by FERN, ClientEarth, the Greens and Grupo PPE.

The three attached presentations come from Marcus Lindner, looking at European Forests and the EUWood study, Sten Nilsson looking at the global situation and Joost Van de Velde, looking at wider global trends.

Bas Eickhout MEP, concluded the event by stating that "Sustainability criteria for bioenergy are crucial. That does not mean we should support low and unambitious criteria. If the criteria turn out to be very weak, we have to vote against and demand a stronger proposal. I therefore urge the Commission to put a proposal on the table that properly addresses the carbon debt of biomass."

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In January of this year, the European Commission launched an investigation into whether the UK government’s financial support for Drax to convert part of its coal power plant to operate on biomass breaches the European Union’s rules on state aid.

In September 2015, world governments adopted an Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The aims are noble and daunting – end all forms of poverty, fight inequality, address climate change, and ensure that no one is left behind.

Europe’s once peaceful forests are being invaded - in the name of green energy. To meet European Union policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting renewable electricity and heating, governments from France to Romania are providing huge subsidies for the expansion of biomass burning in large power plants.

Our Bioenergy campaigner, Linde Zuidema, has been visiting the South-East United States to witness how forests are being destroyed to produce wood pellets for the EU energy market. Here she discovers the impact of the industry on local communities in North Carolina.